In Dreams
by Cake Mage
Summary: For the Pevensie siblings, healing from the heartache of being expelled from Narnia comes in dreams. Written for the Yuletide 2007 challenge.


Lucy Pevensie rolled over in bed and sighed, finding herself once again unable to sleep. It had been six months since she and her siblings had fallen out of the wardrobe and back into the house of Professor Digory Kirke, and it had been six months since she had last been able to sleep peacefully through the night. For the most part she was able to keep her thoughts and memories of Narnia at bay during ordinary daytime activities, but there was nothing left to distract her when she crawled into bed at night, and so it was then that everything seemed to rush back into her head all at once. Memories of the wonderful adventures she, Peter, Susan and Edmund had shared together in that land, of the many battles they'd fought together, of growing up in Cair Paravel, and most especially of that fateful day when the four of them had gone to hunt the White Stag in the Western Woods.

She turned over and stared at the ceiling, while rustling sounds coming from the bed next to hers told her that Susan was also having difficulty getting to sleep. Lucy didn't have to wonder if her sister was thinking of Narnia as well; the two of them had sat up together more nights than she could count talking about the friends they'd been forced to leave behind, or asking if the other thought anyone there still worried about them, or whether they'd simply forgotten them. They had wondered why Aslan had made them leave—for they had no doubt that this had been his intention—and if they ever would be allowed to go back, as Professor Kirke had said. When they'd exhausted themselves with words and had found themselves left with just as many questions as they had had on that first painful day, they'd simply held each other and cried. Time went on and the two sisters had found that even tears could not convey the amount of confusion and grief they felt over the loss of Narnia, and so they eventually stopped trying altogether. Each girl would silently lie in her own bed, lost in thought and waiting for sleep to claim her.

On this night, Lucy's thoughts turned, as always, back to Aslan. She had loved him more than any other, and still did, but at the same time she felt betrayed by him. Logically, she knew he hadn't, that he _couldn't_ have done, that he must have had a very good reason for sending them back to England when and how he did, but this knowledge did little to ease the hurt. She dearly wished that she could see him and hear his voice once more. She would have given everything she had just to be able to bury her face in his mane the way she had so long ago. If she could, then she knew in her heart that everything would be all right again. She could spend the rest of her life without ever setting foot in Narnia again if only she could be with Aslan just one more time.

When she finally fell asleep in the small hours of the morning, she dreamed of Narnia, as she so often did. Ever since she and her family had been expelled from Narnia, all of her dreams had involved her wandering alone along the shores of Cair Paravel, calling out in vain for her friends and siblings. Tonight's dream, however, was different from the very beginning. She was on her throne, and sitting next to her were Edmund, Susan and Peter. Mr. and Mrs. Beaver stood before her along with many others she knew and loved, while her dearest of friends Mr. Tumnus stood by her side. All of them looked exactly as they did when the Pevensie family first arrived in Narnia, and all were wearing nearly-identical look of confusion and anticipation. Lucy suspected that she had a rather similar expression on her face as well.

Edmund leaned in close to her. "I say, Lu, what do you suppose is going on?" he whispered behind his hand.

"I don't know, but I simply can't wait to find out!" she replied, feeling happier and more excited than she had in ages, and completely unable to explain why.

"Nor can I," he said with a cheerful laugh.

Luckily, neither had to wait for very long at all, for soon a hush fell over the throne room and in walked the one whom Lucy wanted to see most of all. Almost instantly all four Pevensie children were on their feet and rushing towards the beloved form of Aslan, none of them sparing a single thought for decorum or propriety.

"Oh, Aslan, is it really you?" Lucy sobbed joyfully as she wrapped her arms around the Great Lion and showered him with kisses.

He chuckled. "Yes, Daughter of Eve, it is I."

"We've missed you so much," said Peter, his own tears falling unchecked as he stroked the Lion's mane.

"You need not have, Son of Adam," Aslan rumbled gently. "After all, I have never really left you. You simply could not see me. Do not grieve any longer, my children."

"We won't, Aslan," Lucy promised, and she knew she wouldn't have to; her fondest wish had come true.

When she awoke the next morning, Lucy thought about telling her siblings about the dream she had had, but when she saw their faces she knew that there was no need to do so. She could see by the looks in their eyes that they knew all about her dream because it had been their dream as well. None of them said anything about it to the others, for nothing more needed to be said. Though each one still mourned the loss of Narnia, the sadness was not nearly as great as it had been before and could no longer overshadow their lives. And that night, for the first time in six months, Lucy and her siblings slept soundly through the night.

The End.


End file.
